Edit for response: comments seem to be in line with my experience. Subset of Brits like em too, and some South American representation. Apparently Colombia is a big peanut butter exporter but their home consumption is low.
I lived and worked in continental Europe for several years and it was definitely seen as weird there.
One of my American friends who was really smart, had a moment of shock when she realised as an adult how little non-America centric history they were taught
And with all due respect, how self-serving to America a lot of that history was
This doesn’t sound like its relevant at first but please read to the end.
I’m a near-retirement Canadian and we love the forest, so it was a real treat to have a late October getaway to a local wooded National Park while there were still a few leaves to see and while the crowds were down.
While there we met a couple travelling young men on two separate trails. The first time, we said howdy and picked up a bit of a drawl in their accents. They were late 20’s/early 30’s, on a trail hike without their wives, and we started chatting because they’d overheard me naming some of the local trees and wanted to learn more.
The second encounter, the four of us talked for some time. They were practically gushing at how nice everyone here was. They were super tired of the threat of another Trump presidency as they were blue voters in a red state, and everything around them and every major event was stuffed full of identity politics. Coffee shop talk, social group events like bingo or whatever, it was always Fox News and politics.
Now, we have discussions over beers about politics up here, and I watch them closely for many reasons.
But at least in my part of Canada, we don’t LIVE them and MAKE OUR IDENTITY around them, and typically it’s only the loonies and outcasts that do stuff like wear political merchandise or flaunt political flags outside of an election cycle. (There are regional exceptions to this)
They asked about how hard it would be to move to Canada, the absence of such paraphernalia was so striking to them. After hearing their professions I told them they’d be welcome, and I should have thought to look into somehow sponsoring them (no idea how that would work).
Really nice gents. Hope they’re retaining their sanity down there right now.
I didn’t realize until I moved away that living in New York or Los Angeles is a lot of people’s dream.
I moved to a smaller city in Germany, and most of my adult life has been spent trying to leave those old chapters behind. One of the first questions I always get from people not from the US is a bewildered, “Why?” In comparison, other American immigrants/expats/tourists usually immediately understand why.
The answer has become a lot more obvious to people who read the news lately haha
Comments
Wearing a baseball hat
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Edit for response: comments seem to be in line with my experience. Subset of Brits like em too, and some South American representation. Apparently Colombia is a big peanut butter exporter but their home consumption is low.
I lived and worked in continental Europe for several years and it was definitely seen as weird there.
The pledge of allegiance
The way we arrange our dates. Month, day, year. Most of the rest of the world arranges it day, month, year.
Putting ice cubes in a lot of our drinks.
I didn’t notice how many flags Americans have around until I left America. Other countries don’t have giant national flags at their car dealerships.
One of my American friends who was really smart, had a moment of shock when she realised as an adult how little non-America centric history they were taught
And with all due respect, how self-serving to America a lot of that history was
This doesn’t sound like its relevant at first but please read to the end.
I’m a near-retirement Canadian and we love the forest, so it was a real treat to have a late October getaway to a local wooded National Park while there were still a few leaves to see and while the crowds were down.
While there we met a couple travelling young men on two separate trails. The first time, we said howdy and picked up a bit of a drawl in their accents. They were late 20’s/early 30’s, on a trail hike without their wives, and we started chatting because they’d overheard me naming some of the local trees and wanted to learn more.
The second encounter, the four of us talked for some time. They were practically gushing at how nice everyone here was. They were super tired of the threat of another Trump presidency as they were blue voters in a red state, and everything around them and every major event was stuffed full of identity politics. Coffee shop talk, social group events like bingo or whatever, it was always Fox News and politics.
Now, we have discussions over beers about politics up here, and I watch them closely for many reasons.
But at least in my part of Canada, we don’t LIVE them and MAKE OUR IDENTITY around them, and typically it’s only the loonies and outcasts that do stuff like wear political merchandise or flaunt political flags outside of an election cycle. (There are regional exceptions to this)
They asked about how hard it would be to move to Canada, the absence of such paraphernalia was so striking to them. After hearing their professions I told them they’d be welcome, and I should have thought to look into somehow sponsoring them (no idea how that would work).
Really nice gents. Hope they’re retaining their sanity down there right now.
That there’s people so fucking stupid here that they think Donald Trump is on their side.
Drinking tap water
Tipping
The fact that the Halloween holiday is sooo popular here with both kids and adults.
Eating potato chips at lunch
Medicine ads. Got so used to filtering put the side effects not realizing how absurd it sounds until I saw a post about it years ago.
Our level of patriotism.
The widespread availability of guns
I didn’t realize until I moved away that living in New York or Los Angeles is a lot of people’s dream.
I moved to a smaller city in Germany, and most of my adult life has been spent trying to leave those old chapters behind. One of the first questions I always get from people not from the US is a bewildered, “Why?” In comparison, other American immigrants/expats/tourists usually immediately understand why.
The answer has become a lot more obvious to people who read the news lately haha
Ranch dressing
The over the top patriotism
I learned that root beer is something a lot of people from other countries don’t like.
How long until this is a BuzzFeed article? They just love the cut and paste journalism over there.